The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus, a printer, a facsimile machine, etc.
In known image forming apparatuses employing powdery toner, toner transferred to a transfer medium at a transfer section is fixed, through heating, onto the transfer medium at a fixing section. However, in a compact image forming apparatus, since a distance from the transfer section to the fixing section is short, a leading edge of the transfer medium proceeds into the fixing portion while toner is being transferred to the transfer medium, so that an impact force caused by feeding of the transfer medium into the fixing section is transmitted to the transfer medium disposed at the transfer section and thus, the transferred toner image is disordered, thereby resulting in aggravation of image quality.
Therefore, in order to eliminate the above described inconvenience, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 63-138554 proposed an image forming apparatus in which two air suction type conveyor devices are provided between the transfer section and the fixing section and transport speed of one of the conveyor devices is made different from that of the other of the conveyer devices so as to form a slack of the transfer medium between the conveyor devices such that the impact force caused by delivery of the transfer medium into the fixing section is absorbed by the slack of the transfer medium.
However, this prior art image forming apparatus has such drawbacks that since a special mechanism and a control unit are required to be additionally provided for changing over the transport speeds of the conveyor apparatuses, the apparatus becomes complicated in construction and large in size.